Heretofore bank bags, which are usually formed of heavy cloth such as duck or denim for carrying money, currency or the like, have been provided with a seal around the open neck thereof so that access to the interior of the bag or receptacle cannot be obtained without breaking the seal. In this manner, it is immediately apparent whether or not the seal has been tampered with and the interior of the contents of the bag either removed therefrom or some material which is worthless has been substituted for the original contents of the bag. One such seal is shown, for example, in Canter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,624.
It has been found that with careful manipulation, the former sealing devices used, which were usually formed of a soft material such as lead which was tightened or deformed after strings were inserted through holes therein by a tool to restrain or hold the strings in place around the neck of the bag and which had teeth or points which would dig into the bag so that removal of the seal is difficult, did not always serve their intended purpose and were relatively expensive. One reason that they were unsatisfactory was because persons with sufficient patience and strength could carefully manipulate the seal so that it could be removed from the bag and the contents thereof either pilfered or changed and the seal could then be carefully replaced around the neck of the open end of the bag with no readily visible indication that the seal had been tampered with. In bank bags, this is a decided disadvantage because such bags at times contain valuable material sealed in the bags and the bags may not be opened for a considerable period of time. If pilferage or substitution is not discovered immediately, it is difficult to trace the person or persons who tampered with the bag or to determine when or where the tampering took place. Furthermore, such seals were usually formed of materials which are relatively expensive, such as lead, for example, and required a special tool to secure them on the bag after the contents have been placed therein.
Other seal constructions which are useable with a cloth bag, for example, are shown in Rifkin, U.S. Pat. No. 2,977,145, and Marchese et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,697. While these patents disclose a seal construction formed of a band of resilient, yieldable material with interlocking teeth to hold the yieldable material in position when tightened, the seals are readily accessible, which is obviously undesirable since they can be relatively easily broken externally of the sealing band.
Another seal construction is illustrated in my co-pending application Ser. No. 951,569, filed Oct. 15, 1978 for Bank Bag Sealer and assigned to the assignee of the present application. This application is an improvement on the bank bag sealer shown in the said application Ser. No. 951,569.
The present invention provides an improved and inexpensive, foolproof sealing device particularly for bank bags. It provides an inexpensive and foolproof sealing device for bank bags and the like which cannot be removed from the bag without tearing or mutilating the bag materials, whereby it is immediately apparent that the bag has been tampered with and the seal removed. The purpose also is to provide a seal of the type wherein the only manner in which the seal may be removed from the bag is by cutting or severing the same with a cutting tool. The visual appearance of the bag and seal is such that it will be immediately apparent that the seal was improperly removed or attempted to be replaced, although this is quite difficult to do without further mutilating or tearing the bag material.
It is an object of the invention to provide a bag seal which is inexpensive and may be manufactured in large quantities very cheaply from metal stampings or molded plastic strips such as formed from materials known by the trademarks Nylon or Delrin.
Referring again to application Ser. No. 951,569, it will be noted that the sealing device disclosed in the present application has its locking serrations no longer projecting outwardly, but rather projecting inwardly so that they are in contact with the surface of the bag. Furthermore, the central portion of the strip containing the serrations is now solid and any slits have been eliminated, which facilitates manufacture. Furthermore, one end portion of the strip has been bent at a 15.degree. angle to facilitate assembly of the sealing device. In addition, projecting spears or spikes have been added to the inner surface of the strip to better engage the material of the bag. The triangular barbs of the former construction have been eliminated. An additional panel has been added to the strip and two longitudinal rails have been provided on the body portion and are on the same surface as the serrations. The two rails lie along the two edges of the body portion and enclose the serrations. Furthermore, the rails are elevated above the surface of the body portion and the serrations are thus recessed in relation thereto. Locking edges of the previous panels have been retained but additional locking panels and projections have been added to engage and lock with the serrations and the projections are shaped so as to accurately conform to the shape of the serrations. In addition, the bag's resistance to compression produces an outwardly expanding radial force which causes the projections to tightly interlock with the serrations. Moreover, because the serrations are projected inwardly against the surface of the bag the body portion and the panels cover and conceal the locking mechanism of the sealing mechanism.
Two rounded bearing surfaces have also been added to the under surface of one end of the strip and extend transversely thereof. The rounded surfaces facilitate the movement of the body portion when the sealing device is tightened around the bag and also provide a space therebetween. The space allows insertion of a sharp tool, such as a knife, and affords a ready construction to afford removing of the sealing device from the bag without cutting the fabric of the bag.